Why do silos show up so much in healthcare?  Aren’t they meant for holding grain on farms?? Today we talk with Dr. Taylor Eaves who teaches us all about chiropractic neurology.  This specialty looks at the whole person; the physical, the physiologic, and the cognitive to see how each system is affecting the other and creating a problem.  They use this information to create a plan that addresses your individualized needs.  Treatments are multimodal using a wide combination of therapies to get you back from your brain injury.  This is not your traditional crack your back and send you on your way.  If you’re looking for someone willing to consider how all your systems work together (rather than looking at each individually), a chiropractic neurologist may be for you!

In this episode:

• What is chiropractic neurology?
• Ties the physiology, mental, and physical aspects of recovery together 
• They typically see chronic conditions or symptoms post concussion or brain injury
• What makes chiropractic neurology different?
• They test the eyes, cognition, and balance; do brain mapping, and combine the many findings into what your brain and body are outputting.
• Can these outputs be changed? What are the deficiencies?  
• They use this information to make an individualized treatment plan.
• Chiropractic neurologists look at all the components together rather than in a silo
• Don’t accept an answer of “this is as good as it gets; there’s nothing we can do.”  There’s likely more to be done
• Brain injuries disrupt the connections (axons) between nerves.  Your brain will compensate but these compensations do not always lead to smooth function.  The goal of chiropractic neurology is to find the area of initial trauma and the compensations the body/brain has made for that and treat it all to make the body work as efficiently as possible
• Types of treatments offered: neurofeedback, physical therapy, neurofacilitation, hyperbarics, context specific exercises (training that mimics the goal activity)
• It is not a crack to the spine and send you on your way!
• More on hyperbaric chambers: provides oxygen to promote healing
• Metabolic and autonomic function
• Brain injured patients can have trouble regulating automatic functions in the body. 
• Dr. Eaves tracks the heart rate responses (metabolic activity) while challenging a patient to see where their metabolic and autonomic thresholds are. Not pushing beyond a threshold prevents a patient from crashing--have to work within the boundaries to improve them
• Do I need a chiropractic neurologist? 
• Some things they treat (not all inclusive, they see most anything!): Dizziness, balance issues, severe fatigue, ongoing symptoms, strokes (should try to see as early as possible), headache, post concussive syndrome
• Dr. Eaves recommends a care team of functional medicine, physical therapy, and chiropractic neurology to provide a holistic approach to brain healing
• Age is not a limiting factor! Any age can be helped with chiropractic neurology

 Links to any resources mentioned

• How to find chiropractic neurologists: Visit the American Board of Chiropractic Neurology website https://www.acnb.org/ --doctor finder tab, this shows diplomate level practitioners meaning they have had 300 hours + of specialized training
• Find Dr. Eaves on Instagram: @dr.e_neurochiro

The Southwest Brain Performance Centers: https://swbrainpc.com/ 

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